Container support



May 10, 1932. H. M. NICHOLL'S CONTAINER SUPPORT 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 23, 1928 May 10, 1932. H. M. NICHOLLS CONTAINER SUPPORT Filed June 25, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May 10, 1932 were STATES.

PATENT OFFICE HENRY ivz. NIGHOLLS, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOB TO. AMERICAN CAN COMPANY,

or New YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION or NEW JERSEY CONTAINER SUPPORT Application filed June 23,

My invention relates in general to improved container supports and more particularly toa collapsible and foldable rack or easel forthe pivotal mounting or suspenv sion ofclarge, heavy oil cans or drums, which may be tilted or swung to pouring or dispensing position to withdrawtheir contents 'in small quantities without havingto lift the container for each withdrawal.

While my invention was developed principally for use in connection with five gallon oil drums, the contents of which are dispensed in public and private garages, filhng stations and automobile accessory and repair invention is the provision-of an improved container-support which is of simple and economical construction, which can be manufactured and soldat a reasonable price and which is strong and durable and or neat and pleasing appearance.

'Another important object of my invention is the provision of an improved container rack which not only securely supports and suspends a filled container but also permits the same to be pivotally tilted or swung'to dispensing or pouring position at any desired angle in either direction.

Still another advantage of the invention resides in the fact that the rack may be readilyassembled to the container without any special tools 1 and also readily disconnected from the container and adapted to be 001- lapsed without disconnecting its, own individualparts and may then be folded fiat into a package of small dimensions. It may also tainers of suitable construction.

au 'ers-w-hich may be assembled to a iheavyfilled tion of therear frame member in dottedilines.

be reused inconnection with other filled con- 1928. Serial No. 287,787."

container-by merely moving it from upright to transverse position, springing the pivot pins of the frame, into. thelpivot earsof the container 5 and then. using; part of the frame as a fulcrum for lifting the container. to suspended position.

A still} further feature. of my inventionis the embodimentof a display panel which also functions as-a brace or reinforcing member for the-;support. c

Numerous other obj sets and advantages of the inventioniwillbe apparent as it isibetter understood from-the following description, which, taken-in connection with the accompanying drawings, discloses a preferred em- 'bodiment thereof.

Referring tovthed'rawingst, Figure 1' is a perspective view showing the collapsible rack and a suspended container'rin fully assembled relationship;

Fig. 2; is, a perspective view; of the rack alone showing it disconnected from the-container andin partially collapsedpositiong;

Fig. 3 is anenlarged cross-sectional view showing the connection between the front and rear wire frame member's-andthepivotal connection of the former; with a pivotaear of the container;

Fig. 4 is an elevation, partly infull lines and partly in dotted lines, showing the assembly of the rack with the container; and a the supporting frame pins havebeen inserted into the container pivot ears, and 7 Fig.6 is a fragmentaltopplanview: of the rack showing the free or. extended posi- To illustrate my invention, I have shown on the drawings a preferred embodiment of my. collapsible; container rack in; connection with a well-knowntypeofoil can or drum, which latter comprises acylindricalbodyll necked inadjacent-its topat l2 andyhaving a bottom end 13,,and atop end 14 double seamed-for otherwise. permanently. secured thereto; o 7 l p The; top, 14,;inward1y of-its; double seam connection with the body 11, is formed to provide a sunken panel 15 at the center of which is arranged a wire handle or loop 16, which is held in position by a plate or clip 17 soldered, welded or otherwise secured to the panel 15. Off center and in close proximity to a portion of the annular double seam of the top 14 is a pouring nozzle 18. It is customary to locate the pouring opening or nozzle of a container of this type near an edge or corner of the container in 'order'to bring the opening or nozzle as close as possible to the receptacle which is to receive the contents, to facilitate pouring and to more completely drain the container of its contents. These details of the construction of the container are unimportant to an understanding of the present invention and further description of them is therefore not undertaken. 7

On opposite points of the container body 11 and somewhat above its center of gravity,

the container body 11 is provided with pivot ears or bearings 19 permanentlysecured thereto. The two sets of cars 19 being of identical construction, only one set (shown in Figure 1) need'be described.

This pivot ear 19 is preferably stamped out of a flat piece of sheet metal and comprises a cup-shaped central part with a pivot hole 21 and two wing parts 22, which latter are permanently attached to the container by soldering, welding or any other suitable manner. i p The collapsible and foldable rack or sup- 1 porting frame comprises in general a front wire member 23, a rear wire member 24, two

base plates 25 and 26 and a front display panel and reinforcing member 27.

Both front and rear wire members are The front wire member 23 consists of a transverse, straight, central part 28 which terminates at both ends in downwardly extending parts 29 which in turn merge into two horizontal pivot parts or feet 30 at substantially right angles to the parts 29 and parallel with the transverse, central part 28.

At points of bend 31, the front Wire member 23 is bent at right angles into long, up-

'wardly and inwardly slanting, straight sup- .porting arms 32, which terminate adjacent their-upper extremities into transverse pivot pins 33. These pins 33 are bent at substantiallyright angles to the supporting arms 32.

The rear wire member24 has a central part 34, downwardly extending parts 35 and transverse pivot partsor feet 36 of the same length and bent at the same angles as the parts 28, 29 and 30 of the front wire member 23. At points of bend 37, the rear wire member 24 is-bent into a pair oflong,-up-

verse pivots or feet 30 and 36 and preferably the material of their longitudinal center is raised from the plane of the flat part of the plates'to form reinforcing ridges or beads 40.

The function of these base plates 25 and 26 is to hold'the front and rear members 23 and 24 in permanently assembled relationship and to'permit these members to be pivotally collapsed and folded, one on each horizontal face of the plate.

The display panel 27 is made from a fiat sheet of metal having a central, substantially rectangular part 41 defined by a pair of long, parallel sides 42 and 43 and a pair of short, parallel sides 44 and 45. The material of the panel adjacent the short sides 44 and 45 is extended to form side wings 46 and 47. The extreme side edges of these wings are wrapped around the lower portions of the frame members 32 of the front Wire member 23. The metal of the lower, long side edge 43 is also wrapped around the central, straight part 28 of the front wire member 23. It will thus be seen that thepanel 27 performs a double function; that is, it presents a smooth, even front face which lends itself very nicely to painting, lithographing' or printing advertising matter thereon, and it also reinforces the front wire member 23 by embracing and holding together the parts 28 and 32 of the same.

Reference is now made to Figs. 4, 5 and 6 of the drawings. When it is desired to mount a filled container onto the supporting frame of my invention, the frame members or arms 32 and 38 are first assembled with each other by inserting the pins 33 of themembers 32 into the loops 39 of the members 38, as shown in Fig. 6. The dotted lines in Fig. 6 show the .position which members 38 assume before their assembly with the members 32; that is to say, this view clearly illustrates that prior to this connection the members 38 are arranged outside the 'members 32 and must be pressed inwardly as an incident to assembly. The assembled frame is then moved from upright toward a horizontal positionv (illustrated in Figs. 4

and 5') until the pivot pins 33 come within a short distance of the pivot cars 19 when the pairs of assembled members or arms 32 and 38 must be spread so that the pins 33 may be inserted into the pivot holes 21, as illustrated 1 by full lines in Fig. 4. When both sides of the supporting frame have thus been assembled to the container, the latter may then be grasped by the handle 16 and by using the edge 48 of the frame as a fulcrum, the container and frame may be brought to upright position (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4) with very little exertion.

In collapsing and folding the supporting frame for temporary storage or shipment, the front wire member 23 is swung outward and downward and folded with the flat panel 27 against the under sides or flat faces of the base plates 25 and 26, and the rear Wire member 24 is swung forward and inward,-and when completely folded the frame members 38 will lie one alongside the base plate 25 and the other alongside the base plate 26. The whole framework thus folds into a compact, fiat package of small dimensions and is adapted to be easily and economically handled for storage and shipment.

The container, framework and panel may be decorated in a variety of colors to present a very attractive and pleasing appearance.

It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the form hereinbefore described being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

I claim:

1. In a collapsible supporting rack for containers, in combination, a front wire member, a rear Wire member, said front and rear members being each bent to form supporting arms and transverse parts, and a pair of base members having pivotal folding connections with said transverse parts, one of said wire members being bent to form pivot parts adapted to engage complementary pivot parts of a container to mount the latter and to permit it to be tilted to pouring position at any angle and the other of said wire members having eyes to engage said pivot parts.

2. In a collapsible supporting rack for containers, in combination, a front Wire member having pivot pins, and a rear wire member having eyes and being resilient so that said pins may be passed through said eyes, and transverse parts connected with said members on axes of folding, said pins being also adapted to engage complementary pivot parts of a container to mount the latterand to permit it to be tilted to pouring position at any angle, said wire members being foldable together when said pins are withdrawn from said eyes.

3. In a collapsible supporting rack for containers, in combination, a pair of wire rods each having its ends bent at right angles to its center, said rods being arranged to dispose the ends of one rod in angular relation to the ends of the other and said ends being engaged at their meeting points to provide a triangular support at each side for a container, the connection between said ends comprising eyes upon one rod and pins upon the other rod passing through said eyes, and means foldably connecting said rods, the latter being foldable when the ends of said rods are disengaged from each other.

4. In a collapsible supporting rack for tiltable containers, the combination of a pair of supporting frames each of which is bent to form pivot feet and supporting arms and transverse parts connecting said arms of each frame, a reinforcing panel bent around one of said transverse parts and around the supporting arms thereof, and base plates pivotally connecting said feet of one frame with the feet of the other frame, said arms having pivoting means at their upper ends for engaging pivot bearings of a container.

5. In a collapsible supporting rack for tiltable containers, the combination of a pair of supporting frames each of which is bent to form pivot feet and supporting arms and transverse parts connecting said arms of each frame, and base plates pivotally connecting said feet of one frame with the feet of the other frame, said arms having pivoting means at their upper ends for engaging pivot bearings of a container, said pivoting means at each side of the rack consisting of an eye on oneof said arms and a pin on the other of said arms, said pin being adapted to engage said eye and a pivot bearing of the container.

HENRY M. NICHOLLS. 

